Johnny Bower in Stanley Cup games
1959 Finals
Montreal beats Toronto 5-3
Shots: Leafs 24 Habs 31
Leafs 0 Habs 1
Bower barely mentioned, but I did find this note
Saskatoon Star-Phoenix · April 10, 1959
Reay cites Detroit, who were weak on defence, as a fine example. For the first half of the season, Terry Sawchuk was brilliant behind an ordinary defence. But he couldn't stand the continual pounding and broke during he last half of the schedule. Several times this year, after Johnny Bower had experienced a bad night, Ed Chadwick was rushed in for the next game. The change often worked.
Montreal beats Toronto 3-1
Shots: Leafs 29 Habs 41
Leafs 0 Habs 2
The Leader-Post · April 13, 1959
It was a rugged, bitterly fought game, with standout work by goalies Johnny Bower of the Leafs and Jacques Plante of Montreal. Bower in particular came up with some big saves in the first two periods.
Coach Toe Blake, whose team now holds a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven Stanley Cup final, called it a "very rough" game and said Bower played an outstanding game in the Toronto nets.
Toronto beats Montreal 3-2 in OT
Shots: Leafs 35 Habs 31
Leafs 1 Habs 2
The Windsor Daily Star · April 15, 1959
Canadiens went into overtime bent on getting things cleaned up in a hurry. But Bower handled them. Defenceman Doug Harvey rushed the length of the rink, but his shot was turned aside. Bonin got in close. Bower took his hard drive on the chest.
Montreal wins 3-2
Shots: Leafs 28 Habs 29
Leafs 1 Habs 3
The Calgary Herald · April 17, 1959
In the first period Bower stopped at least three bullet-like drives by the 28-year-old right winger [Geoffrion]
Both goaltenders were sensational.
Montreal wins 5-3
Shots: Leafs 33 Habs 37 via NHL.com, Leafs 42 Habs 36 via Star Phoenix
Leafs 1 Habs 4
Saskatoon Star-Phoenix · April 20, 1959
Goaltending throughout the series was a big factor, with superb performances by both Plante and Bower. If there was any doubt about it, the balance swung sharply in Plante's favour in Saturday's game.
It was unfortunate that Bower, so often the king-in of the Leaf defence, looked weak on two of the Montreal goals. Both shots were fired by the burly Boom Boom Geoffrion.
Lots is made of Geoffrion having the best shot in the world (despite suffering from a stomach bug) . Bower and Plante get lots of praise. A few instances where Bower is scored on via rebound.
1960 Finals
Canadiens beat Leafs 4-2. Big praise to Harvey and Plante.
Shots: Leafs 29 Habs 42
Leafs 0 Habs 1
Saskatoon Star-Phoenix · April 8, 1960
Leafs Find Plante Tough
Time and again they barged in on goalie Johnny Bower and missed at least half a dozen other big opportunities.
The Windsor Star · April 8, 1960
The Leafs did not play badly in a general sense, in fact looked as good as in any of the games against Detroit in the semi-final. Olmstead, Frank Mahovlich, Dick Duff, Red Kelly and Larry Regan were moving well. Bower had better nights.
Plante didn't have nearly as much work as Bower, but he made no mistake and controlled traffic with sharp efficiency.
Montreal wins 2-1
Shots: Habs 36 Leafs 27
Leafs 0 Habs 2
Saskatoon Star-Phoenix · April 11, 1960
Both Plante and Bower played superbly. Bower saving his team in the third period with particularly brilliant stops on Henri Richard and Phil Goyette.
Imlach though Bower had turned in a great game. "You couldn't find any fault with Johnny tonight. If we can't score more than one goal for him, you can't expect him to shut them out to win."
Montreal wins 5-2
Shots: Habs 31 Leafs 34
Leafs 0 Habs 3
Saskatoon Star-Phoenix · April 13, 1960
Leafs started out as if they would skate the Canadiens right off the ice, but the defending champions soon settled down and the game developed into a fast-skating wide-open affair with goal-keepers Jacques Plante in the Canadien nets and Johnny Bower in the Toronto goal making brilliant saves
"I got Dickie Moore's rebound and let go a backhander over Bower" [from Rocket Richard
The Windsor Star · April 13, 1960
Imlach was "very disappointed" in his team's play. He said their mistakes were inexcusable. "We gave them three goals, he said. I'm not going to blame Bower."
"Plante played a marvelous game," the Leaf coach said. "I don't know how he managed to stop some of those shots. A couple of times he couldn't even see the puck and even then he was stopping them."
Montreal wins 4-0
Shots: Habs 32 Leafs 30
Leafs 0 Habs 4
The Montreal Gazette · April 15, 1960
Beliveau opened the scoring...with a screened drive from the blueline that whizzed through a maze of skates and gave Bower no chance.
Beliveau just about had another one when he sailed in on Bower from the right and let go a short blast that the Leaf goalie smothered in his pads.
Leafs managed to weather the penalty string, thanks to some neat work by Bower.
Plante was sensational stopping Olmstead.
It seems like a great series. Plante and Bower are praised repeatedly, but Montreal thoroughly outplayed Toronto.
1962 Finals
Leafs win 4-1
Shots: Leafs 37 Blackhawks 26
Leafs 1 Blackhawks 0
The Leader-Post · April 11, 1962
Bobby Hull put Chicago ahead 1-0 before many of the 13,069 fans at Maple Leaf Gardens had settled down. From there in, goalie Johnny Bower in the Leaf net played flawlessly behind a rock solid defence and backchecking forards.
Toronto wins 3-2
Shots: Leafs 31 Blackhawks 29
Leafs 2 Blackhawks 0
No relevant comments. Everything is about a controversial non-goal from Mikita onto Bower
Blackhawks win 3-0. Last goal was an empty-netter
Shots: Leafs 19 Blackhawks 36
Leafs 2 Blackhawks 1
Saskatoon Star-Phoenix · April 16, 1962
The Toronto netminder, harassed most of the 60 minutes by the Hawks, finished with 33 saves against only 19 for Hall.
Blackhawks win 4-1
Shots: Leafs 31 Blackhawks 33
Leafs 2 Blackhawks 2
Bower leaves gave in the first period when he "pulled a leg muscle after doing the splits to save on an ankle-high blistering from by Bobby Hull
Leafs win 8-4
Bower does not play
Leafs 3 Blackhawks 2
Leafs win 2-1
Bower does not play
Leafs 4 Blackhawks 2
When he played he was praised, but it's a hard look when backup Don Simmons replaces you and wins two games.
1963 Finals
Leafs win 4-2
Shots: Leafs 27 Red Wings 32
Leafs 1 Red Wings 0
Saskatoon Star-Phoenix · April 10, 1963
Duff, taking advantage of some uncertain netminding by Detroit's Terry Sawchuk, gave Leafs an early spurt.
Bower had his rough moments, too, particularly In the second period when the Wings took pot shots from all angles and ended up with 14 drives at him.
Leafs win 4-2
Shots: Leafs 37 Red Wings 27
Leafs 2 Red Wings 0
No relevant comments. Gordie Howe gets praise, but the rest of the Red Wings played poorly.
Red Wings win 3-2
Shots: Leafs 32 Red Wings 31
Leafs 2 Red Wings 1
Saskatoon Star-Phoenix · April 15, 1963
Bower had to make 28 saves and Sawchuk 30, but the antics of neither was startling enough to amaze the crowd.
The Windsor Star · April 15, 1963
"Punch" Imlach summed up his club's performance with "We just didn't knock enough of them down. Maybe we were overconfident we could win in straight games. Tonight we had no drive, our skating and checking was bad and we kept giving the puck away. I couldn't fault out goaltender (Bower) but the rest of the club was bad. Defence was loose and we just couldn't command the play."
Toronto beats Detroit 4-2
Shots: Leafs 33 Red Wings 40
Leafs 3 Red Wings 1
Saskatoon Star-Phoenix · April 17, 1963
Toronto goaltender Johnny Bower had his busiest night of the series, and the play who gave him the most trouble was his summertime fishing companion, Howe. The Detroit right winger, who more often than not is one of the best players on the ice, had an assist besides his own marker. Bower, at an official 38 the oldest player in the league, made 38 saves. His youthful performance did nothing to encourage never-ending rumors he is more than 40.
The Windsor Star · April 17, 1963
They had the Leafs in considerable trouble in the first two periods, but couldn't find the let and Johnny Bower didn't them. Bower shut out Detroit over the final 37 minutes, more than atoning for letting Gord Howe beat him at the start of the game with a long shot.
Imlach said he would probably have yanked Bower in favour of Don Simmons had Johnny exhibited additional unsteadiness.
Toronto wins 3-1
Shots: Leafs 27 Red Wings 27
Leafs 4 Red Wings 1
Saskatoon Star-Phoenix · April 19, 1963
After the presentation, Bower and Howe, with arms draped around each other, exchanged congratulations. Said Bower: "It was a close game and could have gone either way." And Howe retorted: "It was your fault it didn't go our way."
The tension of this game was noticeable from the start, especially when Wings opened with a burst of shots around Bower and the Leafs went nearly four minutes without getting a direct drive at Sawchuk.
Johnny Bower: the veteran netminder came up with the big saves for Toronto.
1964 Finals
Toronto wins 3-2
Shots: Leafs 32 Red Wings 32
Leafs 1 Red Wings 0
Saskatoon Star-Phoenix · April 13, 1964
Bower turned aside 30 shots, including a couple of dangerous ones by Howe and Barkley In the late stages. The Leafs played with defencemen Carl Brewer, who suffered badly bruised ribs int eh last game of the Montreal semi-final.
Red Wings win 4-3 in OT
Shots: Leafs 29 Red Wings 49
Leafs 1 Red Wings 1
Saskatoon Star-Phoenix · April 15, 1964
Veteran goalkeeper Johnny Bower was hopping all over the place to stop 38 Detroit shots in the first 60 minutes and another seven in overtime. Wings forechecked and backchecked Leafs almost to frustration and their forward lines with Ullman, Howe, Jeffrey, and Smith leading the way, poured in on Bower. But the venerable goalkeeper managed to stick out legs and arms to smother labelled shots.
Red Wings win 4-3
Shots: Leafs 34 Red Wings 34
Leafs 1 Red Wings 2
Saskatoon Star-Phoenix · April 15, 1964
Bower had just made a save on Howe and was trying to regain his position when Delvecchio flipped in his third goal of the playoff series.
Bower made cat-like saves on UIlman, Howe, and MacGregor.
Leafs win 4-2
Shots: Leafs 35 Red Wings 27
Leafs 2 Red Wings 2
The Windsor Star · April 20, 1964
Terry Sawchuk foiled 31 thrusts and had many more of the deadly variety than Johnny Bower in the Leafian citadel who registered 25 saves.
Red Wings win 2-1
Shots: Leafs 34 Red Wings 34
Leafs 2 Red Wings 3
Saskatoon Star-Phoenix · April 22, 1964
The Detroit club...got outstanding goaltending from Sawchuk, who stopped 33 shots - including several breakaways in an exceptionally wide-open game.
Leafs goaltender Johnny Bower, who stopped 32 shots, made big saves on Joyal, rookie Paul Henderson and veteran defenceman Marcel Provonost.
Howe fired a hard screened shot that Bower stopped, but the puck rolled from his pad as he dropped to the ice and Howe strode in to pike it into the net.
Leafs win 4-3 in OT
Shots: Leafs 36 Red Wings 41
Leafs 3 Red Wings 3
The Leader-Post · April 24, 1964
Most of the goals Thursday were from close in and neither Sawchuk nor Toronto's Johnny Bower could be blamed.
The Windsor Star · April 24, 1964
In the scoreless third stanza, Wings outshot Toronto 16-8, but couldn't "buy a goal" as their deflects went which-way and Bower had nothing to give away for free.
Leafs win 4-0
Shots: Leafs 37 Red Wings 33
Leafs 4 Red Wings 3
Saskatoon Star-Phoenix · April 27, 1964
The Wings battled gamely in an effort to tie, but couldn't beat 39-year-old Johnny Bower in the Toronto nets.
The Wings lacked Howe's leadership int he climatic game as the big right winger, obviously bone-tired from playing close to 40 minutes in each of the 13 previous playoff games, could muster only a half-dozen dangerous rushes.
Wings' young players, notably Ed Joyal, Paul Henderson and Andre Pronovost, tried to take up the slack but they were no match for the fire-up Leafs or for Bower, who played one of his steadiest games of the playoffs.
Bower handled 33 shots in posting the shutout. Many were from long range, but he made some excellent saves, including two each on Howe and Norman Ullman.
Detroit goalkeeper Terry Sawchuk also stopped 33 shots, most of them more difficult than the ones that tested Bower.
Bower is the most highly praised player on either side throughout the 7 game series, though Howe and Sawchuk get lots too.
1967 Finals
Montreal wins 6-2
Shots: Leafs 26 Habs 44
Leafs 0 Habs 1
Sawchuk started the game, but let in 5 goals on 35 shots. Bower replaced him in the third and saved 8 of 9.
Toronto wins 3-0
Shots: Leafs 43 Habs 31
Leafs 1 Habs 1
Saskatoon Star-Phoenix · April 24, 1967
Veteran Johnny Bower, 42, was the hero of the game. Cool and collected throughout, despite being hit in the face several times with sticks, Bower stopped as many as three shots in succession on a number of occasions.
It was the fifth playoff shutout for Bower, who has played in 10 Stanley Cup seasons.
John Bower, goalie with the Toronto Maple Leafs and one of the last holdouts against wearing a mask during NHL games, is relenting. After 22 professional seasons and countless stitches taken in his head and face, Bower, 43, conceded Saturday he would probably be wearing a mask next season.
Toronto wins 3-2 in double OT
Shots: Leafs 54 Habs 63
Leafs 2 Habs 1
Saskatoon Star-Phoenix · April 26, 1967
Goaltender Johnny Bower was a standout for the Leafs, who outlasted the tiring Canadiens.
Defenceman Tim Horton of Toronto went off for interference… But Johnny Bower of Toronto kept them at bay, making saves on two good slapshots from JC Tremblay.
The Montreal Gazette · April 26, 1967
It had been the other way around the first extra period when Bower kept robbing the Canadiens time after time. Gilles Tremblay, the hard luck winger, just couldn’t believe Bower had stopped him after he cruised in to try for Larose’s rebound. “I had him beat even though I was in close as Bower came out of the net,” said Tremblay. “ I lifted the puck and it barely touched Bower’s shoulder before taking a crazy bounce.”
Montreal wins 6-2
Shots: Leafs 37 Habs 40
Leafs 2 Habs 2
The Windsor Star · April 28, 1967
Bower pulled a muscle in his thigh during the warmup Thursday night with the result that Terry Sawchuk, cold and inactive since the opening game of the Stanley Cup Finals , replaced him and got walloped by Montreal 6-2.
Sawchuk had a bad game, and admitted it, but so did several others of the Toronto team. Bower may be ready to play the fifth game at Montreal Saturday afternoon, but it’s guesswork at this stage.
Toronto wins 4-1
Shots: Leafs 29 Habs 38
Leafs 3 Habs 2
Sawchuk played over Bower and gets lots of praise
Saskatoon Star-Phoenix · May 1, 1967
A strong performance from the sometimes-maligned Terry Sawchuk and plenty of hustle and muscle from forwards and defencemen alike earned Toronto a decision.
Toronto wins 3-1
Shots: Leafs 35 Habs 41
Leafs 4 Habs 2
Sawchuk keeps the net and again has another strong performance.
Hard to read this one. When Bower plays he has a very strong series including some overtime heroics. When Sawchuk comes back in for games 5 and 6 he plays tremendously, stopping 75 of 77 shots (a 0.975!). Outside game 1 and 4 lots of praise is given to both goalies. Vachon gets praise too.
Overall, I came away incredibly impressed with Bower. He gets heaps up praise in 1959, 1960, 1963, and 1964. Across those four series he's easily the most praised Leaf. He faced Plante-Plante-Sawchuk-Sawchuk across those four series and all three goalies get enormous praise. 1967 is a different story, as Sawchuk is the lead goalie and Bower saves in relief.
Bower was prone to being scored on rebounds. It comes up time and time again.
I have him and Vasilevskiy 1 and 2 this round.
